


there will always be another time for us to fall in love (but it never cuts you quite as deep as that first time)

by Hellonightmares



Category: Gossip Girl
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Jenny Humphrey, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 06:23:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellonightmares/pseuds/Hellonightmares
Summary: Jenny wants to get out of this town but until she can, she's just living her life





	there will always be another time for us to fall in love (but it never cuts you quite as deep as that first time)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this forever and it's such a relief to get it done. The title is from First Time by Vance Joy which inspired this whole fic

Jenny wakes to her dad shouting about family day and it makes her want to keep her head under the covers but knowing that is probably what Dan is doing she gets up and goes to help her dad get Dan out of bed. She was planning on finally finishing this dress she had been working on forever, but her parents have been fighting constantly -when her mum isn’t on business trips, so she can suck it up for a day. Getting dressed will always be fun to Jenny and honestly, she doesn’t understand why everyone else doesn’t love it, it’s the possibility of how anything could look that interests her and even though she feels like she’s tried every variation of her clothes she finds a new combination, she especially likes when she’s only wearing things she’s created or at least tinkered with like today.

“Okay so what are we doing for family day? -great name but maybe you should try some alliteration” Jenny says as she heads to the bathroom to apply her makeup

“Well we were going to go have a picnic at the park but Dan is saying he doesn’t want to come because he’s going to hang out with Vanessa” her dad says in an exaggerated tone of voice and continues “But I’m trying to tell him that family day is new and exciting and he hangs out with Vanessa everyday so maybe he could reschedule”

Jenny just laughs and peeks in to Dan’s room to see him getting dressed as slowly as possible

Dan mumbles something that Jenny doesn’t hear but gets a laugh out of their dad who just shuts the door and yells “10 minutes”

It takes them 25 minutes to get into the car but to be fair Jenny and Dan both hadn’t had breakfast and when she suggested they just go without because aren’t they going for a picnic is launched a long monologue about the importance of breakfast. Plus, Dan kept complaining about cancelling on Vanessa that ends up with their dad just telling Dan to invite her along because she’s been around long enough to be called family anyway. No one mentions that it isn’t really family day without mum but it’s the kind of thing you couldn’t say without ruining family day.

It’s only a ten-minute drive to their favourite park but pretty much everywhere is a ten-minute drive, another reason she wants get out of here, once they park, Jenny opens the boot to find a picnic blanket and basket as well as a soccer ball and cones and realises that he’s trying to recreate their family soccer games they had years ago. It makes her sad because their mum was the ringleader of those excursions and Dan must be thinking the same thing because they both get start to get super into it so that their dad feels better about it. She is kind of full from breakfast, which she says very pointedly but it just turns around on her when her dad gets the soccer ball and the cones out, Jenny wouldn’t usually participate in clothes that she’s made but this is as happy as she’s seen her dad in a while so she just jumps up surprising her dad and grabs the cones to set up some goals.

Vanessa arrives as they are arguing who gets Dan (it was always boys vs girls) and solves the problem for them. Vanessa is and always had been Dan’s best friend, they became friends in preschool and just never stopped. Vanessa has been around forever and her and Jenny are close but it’s more of a sisterly relationship which was great when she was younger but now Vanessa’s superiority complex is getting a bit much. Even so, they have a great game and the boys win by one point and the only reason they stop is because a kid’s birthday party has started and they obviously want to use this area for games.

Jenny’s smiling so hard that she thinks her mouth might split, they eat sandwiches that her dad has cut up in shapes like he used to do when they were younger and eat mini-cupcakes and just laugh. After eating Vanessa challenges Jenny to a cartwheel competition and she hears an edge to her voice but Jenny’s never been one to back down. The goal is to do as many cartwheels as you can well and without stopping and she has always killed at this game, Vanessa goes first and does three and then four and then three again which isn’t bad but they’re pretty sloppy and she knows that Dan at least can tell but he lets Vanessa push him around so he might not even take away points. Jenny on the other hand does five, four and six and her form is perfect and Vanessa looks annoyed but she challenged her so her bitterness is unwarranted. 

Vanessa makes an excuse and leaves and Jenny is about to say something but it’s the look that she gives Dan before she leaves when she realises that Vanessa was trying to impress Dan, through her, wow she isn’t even going to get into that. They start packing up and Jenny realises it has actually been a really nice family day and she only just now remembers that her mum should be a part of it.

That night her mum comes home and at dinner time Jenny mentions how they had a family day and her mum just looks at her and then at all three of them and then goes to their room without finishing dinner, her dad is quick to reassure her that she is just tired but no one is convinced and when dinner is finished Jenny knows there’s no way she’s getting to sleep anytime soon.

Jenny doesn’t bother changing out of her pyjamas because no one’s going to be up at this time of night and if they are they’re probably going to murder her but she’s going to have to take that risk because she just needs to get out of her house. She’s not heading anywhere in particular and because she knows this neighbourhood like the back of her hand she lets herself go into her own head so she doesn’t notice that she’s found herself at the basketball court until she’s standing underneath a hoop.

She wouldn’t have stopped but she sees some movement and goes to duck which now seems stupid because it’s obvious that the person is too close but she does it all the same and she hears a laugh which surprises her because are murderers supposed to laugh before they kill you?

“Jenny?” A voice says, she’s still too scared to look who it is, “Jenny, it’s me, Nate, are you okay”

Jenny still doesn’t look but gets off the ground and replies “I’m fine”

“Hey, you can look, I don’t bite”

“Oh, Nate”  
What the hell is Nate doing out here, although he must be wondering the same thing about her because they don’t really look at each other, both in their own heads. Can he not sleep either? Does he have problems at home? In his head? Both? Neither? She notices that he has a basketball, they are at a basketball court she supposes but still it’s the middle of night and he is the school soccer star so she’s not wrong to be confused.

Jenny doesn’t know what to say so she just grabs the basketball and starts dribbling and the smile he gives her makes her heart skip a beat. He tries to grab the ball back but she dodges and starts to jog while dribbling, they’re both smiling now and honestly, it’s the freest Jenny’s felt in a while.

They play in a comfortable silence for around ten minutes until Nate says, “How’s your brother doing? I feel like I haven’t seen him much recently”

Jenny’s taken aback by the question she assumed was going to be about why she was here but it only stopped her for a second and she answered honestly “He’s been spending a lot of time in his room at the moment, I think he’s working on something but I don’t know what”

“Maybe he’s blogging about our lives”

“Where did that come from?”

“I don’t even know” 

Jenny and Nate are barely playing at this point, the lateness of the hour obviously getting to them but it’s so nice to talk without the boundaries of school or family and just bounce a ball around that neither wants to leave. They manage about five more minutes until they both bid their farewells and still no talk of the absurdity of the situation for which Jenny is grateful for.

She gets home in about fifteen minutes but hardly even notices where she is walking because she can’t stop thinking about the way Nate looked sad in a way that reminds her of how she feels, it reminds her of feeling stuck and it’s why she wants -no needs to get out of here and wonders if she can push him in the direction of New York or London or just somewhere. But then again, she’s probably just projecting and remembering that she’s only in grade nine and he’s in eleven and he could leave in a year if he wanted to, that’s probably it. 

 

Jenny wakes up feeling fine and not tired but she has a feeling the exhaustion from only having a few hours of sleep will come later -which she is not looking forward to. The day starts off normally but by the time recess rolls around she can’t help but notice the fact that everyone has been weirdly nice to her all day and its starting to freak her the fuck out, example: in Spanish people were begging to be her partner when usually she’s stuck with whatever other loser is stuck alone (she’s not even that good at Spanish). She just kind of accepts it as teenagers being unusually nice which she really shouldn’t have but she’s starting to get tired from last night. 

She has English right before lunch and it’s another group activity (when will teachers stop) and when she’s about to ask to go to the bathroom so she can hide, Asher Hornsby sits next to her and suddenly the bathroom sounds less appealing. Asher Hornsby is cute, grade A cute, he might be the most attractive guy in Jenny’s grade and although he walks dogs and isn’t particularly popular he still gets enough attention. He doesn’t play any sports but he walks all of the popular kids’ dogs and he went missing for half of year eight and no one knows where he went and for some reason that got him kind of liked -plus the cute thing. He’s also never spoken a word to Jenny in her life -before today. They make plans to work on the project together (it’s a term long thing) and Jenny rushes out at lunchtime to try to figure out what the fuck is going on. 

It turns out Jenny didn’t need to do anything because the second she steps into the cafeteria Serena van der Woodson comes up to her. Serena is the most popular girl in the school and has been since forever, she’s in grade eleven and her brother has had a crush on her since forever (secretly Jenny’s always thought she was a little annoying) and there was absolutely no reason that Jenny could think of that she would be approaching her.

“Jenny, come sit with us” Serena says gesturing to the cliché popular table sat with cheerleaders next to the one sat with the soccer players

Jenny is floored and has no idea what to say so she just stands there with her mouth open and finally manages to stutter out “Why?”

“Penelope didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“You’re the newest cheerleader”

That was the moment Jenny’s life changed forever

Apparently, Hazel had been at the park on the weekend and seen Jenny and Vanessa cartwheeling and the information back to Serena who just lost a member of the cheer team to boarding school so was eager for replacement. Jenny doesn’t even have time to say that she doesn’t really want to be on the cheer team (she doesn’t really have anything against them but they’re pretty bitchy and she doesn’t want to waste time she could be designing and sewing). Jenny is whisked away to the table and given a cheerleading uniform and apparently that’s not a matter she has a choice in.

At the table with Serena sits about ten girls with maybe two others in Jenny’s grade but the only person who she recognises is Blair. Blair Waldorf is Serena’s best friend, that’s what she’s known for, she’s the second most popular girl in the school but Jenny thinks she’s more interesting than Serena. She seems smarter and Jenny likes the way she dresses even if it’s a bit old school, Dan may have had a crush on Serena forever but Jenny’s always been more into Blair -that being the other reason Jenny wants to get out of this town.

Jenny is lead to the seat next to Penelope who she shares history with so she gives her a smile and only gets a glare back. She looks over at the table she was sat at a realises that they’re staring at her and so is almost everyone else and it feels kind of exhilarating. 

After school Jenny starts to head home when she’s grabbed by Penelope, fucking cheerleading practice. Jenny’s only been a cheerleader for part of a day and she hadn’t thought about the actual cheerleading that she would have to do but this is hard work -a lot stretching and not much else.

Jenny doesn’t really have any friends, she’s not shy or anything but she’s just always had trouble making friends, when she was younger she had a friend called Agnes and they had a lot of fun together, but she moved away when Jenny was in sixth grade, so it’s been a few years without any close friends. She has people to sit with at lunch and talk to in class, but they fall more on the friendly acquaintance side.

When she gets home after practice Jenny is exhausted, she never knew cheerleading was so hard and all she wants to do is lie down on her bed and listen to music. But when she enters the house she is ambushed by questions from her parents on why she’s late.

Jenny waits for them to quite down before she says, “I’m actually on the cheerleading team now”

Her mum is the first one to say anything “Oh honey when did that happen?

“Uh, today”

That when her dad pipes up “I didn’t know you wanted to be a cheerleader”

“It happened pretty suddenly” she replies and after a pause continues “So did you want me home for any particular reason”

“Yeah, and Dan needs to be here for this conversation, so I’ll just go get him” says her dad and leaves her alone with her mum

Jenny has always had trouble connecting with her mum, she doesn’t know why but her and Dan have both always been closer with their dad. Now, her mum was looking at her in a way that Jenny can’t quite decipher.

Her dad returns with Dan and her parents sit down at the dining table and gesture foe them to do the same, Jenny is actually getting quite worried, did someone die?

When they are all sitting her mum starts by saying “please remember that no matter what, we both love you very much

All her dad does is nod along

Her mum continues “But you have probably noticed that me and your dad have been fighting a lot recently and – “

Dan interrupts her “Oh god, you’re getting a divorce aren’t you” 

Jenny expects her parents to deny and explain what’s really going on but all that happens is that her parents slowly nod

“Wait what” Jenny exclaims, and she feels like crying

Dan looks pretty wrecked as well and after a moment he says, “I’m meeting Vanessa” and slams the door on his way out

Jenny can’t quite comprehend what’s happening, she knows they have been fighting a lot recently, but she figured that they’d work it out. She doesn’t know what to say and kind of wants to leave but doesn’t know where she would go so she just heads to her room and continues working on a skirt.

Later she comes out for dinner and Dan is still out which is weird because he always calls if he’s staying over at Vanessa’s, but now that Jenny thinks about it he really has stayed over there for a while. So, dinner is just the three of them and it’s very awkward, her parents keep looking at her and Jenny doesn’t know what to say.

She eventually asks, “Who is keeping the house and who are we going to live with?” because she’s been wondering that all afternoon

Her mum answers with a guilty look on her face that Jenny doesn’t understand until she speaks “Your dad and I have talked a lot about this and we have agreed that your dad will keep the house and you two, remember that I love you very much and I will always be your mother, but we agree that it’s for the best”

“Are you going to have us on weekends or?”

“Actually I’m going to move to New York”

“What?”

“Yeah, but we will talk on the phone regularly and you can visit me”

“I can’t believe this is happening” Jenny says at the very moment that Dan enters the house

“What? Are they getting divorced again?” Dan retorts

“Mum’s moving to New York”

This time her dad talks “Your mum loves you two very much, but it’s been hard for her being an artist and living in New York will give her lots of opportunities”

“Opportunities? What about her kids?” Dan exclaims

“As we already explained to Jenny, you guys can talk on the phone and you can visit her once she gets settled”

“I’m going to sleep” Dan finally says

It’s only 7:30pm but Jenny gets where Dan is coming from and heads to her room too. All she can do is design and listen to Kate Nash and wait for everyone to fall asleep. 

Once it’s late and everyone should be asleep, Jenny puts on a jumper and sneaks out. She’s not really sure where she’s heading but she isn’t surprised when she ends up at the basketball court. Nate isn’t there when she arrives, but she has faith that he will show up, so she just sits down on the court and thinks, she doesn’t know when her mum is leaving but one thing Jenny realises that she will have to do is come out before her mum leaves for New York.

Jenny has known that liked girls and boys for as long as she can remember, it was never this big “aha!” moment, she had always gotten crushes on both boys and girls in her class and there had never really been much confusion. She hadn’t always had for a word for it but when she discovered the word bisexual it just felt right. The only thing that Jenny has trouble with is telling people. She just doesn’t know how her family is going to react, she’s pretty sure they aren’t homophobic (or biphobic in her case) but she’s scared.  
But now that her mum is leaving, Jenny thinks she should do it before she goes. Jenny is just trying to figure out how she’s going to say it as she hears a bouncing ball.

“Fancy seeing you here” Nate says as he throws the ball to her

Jenny catches the ball and just laughs

“So, I hear that you’re the newest cheerleader”

“Yeah, I’m still not completely sure how that happened”

“I’m sure you’re great, I can’t wait to see you cheering me on at games, it will be nice to see a friendly face”

“What about Blair and Serena? Aren’t they your friends?”

“I guess but they’re pretty bitchy, great but bitchy”

“Who says I’m not bitchy?”

“I guess I’ll just have to get to know you then”

They are full on playing basketball by that point and they stop talking, they mess around for another fifteen or so minutes, but Jenny starts to get tired, so she bids Nate goodbye and can’t help but think he looks lonely just standing there by himself shooting hoops.

 

Jenny spends Saturday designing and just chilling, her mum is packing up and she still hasn’t come out and she doesn’t really know why. After dinner she gets a text from an unknown number telling her there’s a party at Nate Archibald’s house and she HAS to be there, it’s from a girl on the cheerleading squad and Jenny has no idea how she got her number. Jenny isn’t sure she wants to go but she hasn’t done anything all day and Nate’s parties are infamous and she’d be lying if she said she’s never wanted to go.   
So, at 9:30 she gets dressed in a dress she made the other week and is pretty proud of and sneaks out her window. Nate’s house isn’t too far from hers, although it’s definitely on the richer side of town so she walks there in not much time. She hears it before she sees it, honestly Jenny doesn’t know how the neighbours put up with it, it’s loud and she thinks she sees disco lights. 

The door is open, so she just walks in and wow, it’s intense, there are more people than she expected and they’re playing shit music and Jenny doesn’t see anyone she knows but she decides to get a drink and just have a good time. There’s a keg so she pours herself a drink (it’s her first time having beer and it’s pretty disgusting but fuck it, she’s at a high school party and she’s going to enjoy herself). Jenny downs her drink and puts her cup down and goes to dance. A cute boy that she vaguely recognises joins her and she’s slightly annoyed but decides to go with it and he looks absolutely delighted when she turns to dance with him.

This goes on for a while until Jenny sees her brother, wow she didn’t know he was going to be here. Dan isn’t popular exactly, but he is on the soccer team and friends with Nate, so she guesses it makes sense. But what she sees next makes no fucking sense.

Her brother making out with Serena van der Woodsen.

Serena is the most popular girl in the whole school and Jenny has no idea why she would be making out with her brother, her nerdy brother who would rather read than go outside and had to be bribed with a signed copy of his favourite book to even try out for the soccer team. She watches them for a little while longer and after they stop kissing they seem to be talking? Like they are an actual couple. This is too much for Jenny, so she decides to take a break and goes upstairs (even though it’s blocked off).

She finds a bathroom and fixes up her lipstick and then she goes exploring. It’s a large upstairs and there are a lot of rooms she doesn’t know what they’re used for. She finds what must be Nate’s room and it’s pretty plain which is disappointing, there’s a few sports posters, she knows she shouldn’t be in here, but she stays and looks closer at the walls and to her surprise she spots the bi flag. Is he bi? That would be awesome, but Jenny doesn’t think he’s out at school, so she leaves his bedroom and heads back downstairs.

When Jenny gets back downstairs she runs into Isabel who looks really drunk and says “Jenny where have you been all night? I haven’t seen you around”

“Just exploring”

“Make sure you don’t go upstairs, Nate gets crazy when people do that”

Jenny just gives a guilty smile

“Asher was asking about you” Isabel says teasingly

“Oh, we’re project partners”

“I don’t think he wanted to talk to you about school”

“Really?”

“Really”

“Do you know where he went by chance?”

Isabel points to a corner where he’s standing alone and nursing a beer and Jenny gives her a wave and heads over to him

 

“Hey Asher”

“Jenny, hey”

The two of them stand there looking at each other for a while until Asher kisses her, she would have preferred if he had asked if it was alright, but a cute boy kissed her!

Jenny is smiling really hard as she says, “Do you wanna go on a date sometime?”

“Of course, I do, you’re awesome”

Just as everything is going incredibly, Dan walks up to them and clears his throat

Jenny is pissed that he would interrupt them when he was just kissing Serena van der Woodsen (it feels improper not to use her full name)

“What are you doing here?”

Asher replies, thinking he is talking to him “I don’t even know you”

Dan makes a confused face “I was talking to my sister”

“Oh”

Jenny talks next “I’m doing the exact same thing you are -enjoying the party”

They have started to shout, and Asher has left but first he slipped something into her pocket

“You’re too young”

“You’re being overprotective”

“I’m your brother, it’s my job”

At this point they were drawing a crowd, so Dan texted someone and dragged Jenny outside and they walked home in silence

 

Jenny sleeps in the next morning and even when she wakes up she doesn’t get up, she just lies in bed and enjoys Sunday morning. She finally gets up when she smells pancakes, Sunday is pancake morning and because of all the commotion last night Jenny completely forgot.

She gets dressed in a shirt and some shorts that she sewed a rose patch to and goes into the kitchen. Her mum is making them, and her dad is singing to weird adult music and it almost feels like old times except for the fact that her mum is leaving in a week. 

When she enters the kitchen, her dad says “Go wake your brother, it’s pancake time”

Jenny only drank a cup of beer last night, but she assumes by the way he was acting last night, Dan probably had a lot more which means he will have a killer hangover and Jenny can’t say she’s not looking forward to puling him out of bed.

She knocks on his door but expects no answer, so she opens and finds the bed empty, she has no idea what to do. 

“Jenny! Dan!” Calls her dad from the hallway as he walks to Dan’s room, when he gets there he continues “Is Dan not here?”

She might regret it later, but Jenny decides to cover for him “Actually I remember Dan saying that he was going to spend the night at Vanessa’s”

“I don’t remember that, Alison do you remember that?

Just as her mum is saying no, Dan bursts through the door to find all three of them looking at him expectantly

Dan goes to talk but Jenny, deciding that if she doesn’t want to get caught out for lie she’ll have to continue it “I told mum and dad that you told me that you stayed at Vanessa’s last night”

Dan shoots her a confused and grateful look as their mum says “Well, we would really appreciate if you told a parent when you are going to stay over”

Jenny can’t help but say “Well in a week it’ll just be one parent, right?”

That’s when dad interrupts “Don’t be rude to your mother”

Dan smirks and says “But she’s right”

Her mum speaks up “Look I’m sorry for how this is all going down, but the point is that you have to tell someone when you’re going to be away for the night, anyways the pancakes are ready”

Dan shoots Jenny a grateful look as they all head to the kitchen. Despite the tiff they have a nice morning of pancakes and joking around. 

After breakfast Jenny goes to her room and considers calling Asher, she’s not sure if it’s too soon but she really wants to. This is the kind of situation where a friend would come in handy. She tries to work on a design she’s been stuck on but can’t get past where she should put the sipper, so she gives up and grabs her phone and goes for a walk.

She walks for about ten minutes when she realises that she probably should have brought earbuds because just walking is pretty boring.

“Jenny!” she hears and realises that it’s Asher walking a dog

“Oh Asher, hey” She replies with a smile on her face

“Going somewhere in particular?”

“Nope, just walking”

“Then, would you care to join me?”

“I’d be delighted”

They start walking in silence but it’s a comfortable silence, until Asher asks “So, were you going to call me?”

Jenny decides to reply honestly “Yes, I was considering calling you just before, but I was afraid it would have been too soon”

“It definitely wouldn’t have been too soon, I really like you Jenny, do you want to go on a date?”

Jenny almost squeals but manages to keep her cool and say, “I would love to, when?”

“Well I’m about to drop this dog off, so now?”

They walk another block and drop the dog (Daisy) off and head to a local café. Jenny kind of wished that she had had time to dress nicely, for she is only wearing leggings and a jumper, but she is too excited. They sit at a booth and order coffees and talk about school and their families and she finds out that he knows Serena’s brother, Eric well.

Jenny has a wonderful time and they plan to hang out again tomorrow afternoon and she goes home with the biggest smile on her face.

 

On Monday at school Jenny had almost forgotten about the whole cheerleading thing because she had just been thinking about Asher so when lunch came around she went to sit at her usual table until Blair came over (reluctantly) to bring her to the popular table. 

“Little J, I think you forgot where you are supposed to be sitting” Blair says in an exasperated fashion

“Little J?” Jenny replies

“That’s you, as you are one of the only two grade nines on the squad”

“Okay, I’m cool with it”

“It doesn’t really matter whether you’re cool with it or not”

“Well it matters to me”

Blair obviously looks shocked that someone would speak back to her and just points to an empty seat in reply

 

After school, Jenny texts Asher and they plan to meet up at the local diner (it’s a very popular date spot) so she goes home and tries on a million outfits before settling on a dress she made. She does her makeup very carefully and has about twenty minutes to kill before she needs to leave which gives her time for her to stew in worries. What if he doesn’t really like her, what if she acts too weird on the date, what if-

“You look nice honey” Her mum says, interrupting her thoughts

“Thanks” Jenny responds, thankful that she was pulled out of those thoughts

“Are you doing anything in particular?”

“I’m going on a date” 

“Oh, I’m so happy for you, who is he? Do I know him?”

“No mum you don’t know him”

“Well, be safe and don’t stay out all night”

“It’s four thirty, I’m going to be home in an hour or two”

“Okay hon, whatever you say” her mum says with a hint of a tease in her voice

“I better get going now”

“Good luck and if it goes badly don’t blame yourself”

Jenny heads out the door contemplating why her mum would say that. She rides her bike to the diner and Asher is already there when she arrives, so she heads right to his table and can’t keep an excited smile off her face

“Jenny, hey” he says as she sits down

“Asher, hey” she says in the same way he did which makes him smile a little

They order milkshakes and talk about school, he is really into engineering and wants to be an engineer and she tells him that she wants to be a fashion designer and then they talk about their families and somehow, they get on the topic of Asher’s half cousin who his family is no longer in contact with

“Oh why” Jenny asks 

Asher replies with no embarrassment or hesitation “Because she came out as gay which we are so not okay with

Jenny’s not sure she heard right so she asks him to repeat himself and he does and oh god, she knows that she doesn’t live in the most liberal town but fuck.

“I have to go” Jenny stutters out

He looks at her with confusion and says, “did I say something wrong?”

“No, I just remembered that I have to help my dad with something, bye!”

Jenny practically runs out of there. She can’t believe she reacted like that, but wow how can someone be so ignorant. She should go home but she wants to talk about this to someone and she’s really not in the headspace to come out to her family, so she makes a potentially terrible decision and goes to Nate’s house.

 

She goes back for her bike and looks to see Asher still sitting in there drinking his milkshake and looking at his phone, it’s a fair way to Nate’s from the diner but it gives Jenny time to think about what she’s going to say to him. When she gets there, she considers that he could not be here but decides to hope for the best. So, she knocks, and Nate opens the door with a puzzled look on his face

“Jenny?” Nate says

“Yeah, hey”

“What are you doing here?”

“Okay so it’s kind of a long story but the just is that I just went on a date and the dude turned out ot be super homophobic and I’m bi and I’m not out to my parents but when I was here at your party I went upstairs and into your room and saw the bi flag so I thought you might be bi so I thought I could talk to you about it”  
“Wow that was a long story”

Jenny is just starting to realise how fucking weird it is that she came here so she starts to say “I’m sorry that I came, I can go”

“No, it’s alright, come in”

Jenny follows him in and when she was here before she really didn’t appreciate how glamorous his house really is, like look at those gold banisters. Nate points to the couch and heads to what she presumes is the kitchen to get them a beverage.

When Nate returns he says “Okay, so for one my room is off limits during parties but I’ll let you off in bi solidarity”

This confirmation of his bi-ness makes Jenny smile

He continues “Who is this guy, so I can have a stern word with him”

“Not beat him up”

“I don’t believe in violence”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“His name’s Asher”

“Oh, he walks Ginger”

“You named your dog Ginger?”

“So?”

“Nothing, it’s a nice name, anyways I don’t really want to talk about him, I think I just wanted to be around someone who gets it, you know?”

“Okay so how about a swim?”

“You have a pool?”

“No but Serena does, and she lives next door, and no one is ever home”

“I don’t have my bathing suit” Jenny points out

Nate looks like he wants to suggest something but instead says “I have spares”

Jenny surprises herself by saying “okay”

They go over the fence and play around in the pool for a while and talk about being bi in a conservative small town and when it starts to get dark Jenny gets out and kisses Nate and he pulls her in for a longer one and Jenny leaves his house feeling really good.


End file.
